`DSR'shttps://darshan07.wordpress.com
The Creation of a New Generation.Fri, 18 Aug 2017 02:55:07 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png`DSR'shttps://darshan07.wordpress.com
The Reflective Essayhttps://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/the-reflective-essay/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/the-reflective-essay/#respondSun, 27 Apr 2014 14:16:28 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/?p=109]]>As the crucial year ends now, it’s time to reflect on what was chosen, learnt and then executed. I had a variety of subjects to choose from, bearing in mind the best ones that could possibly widen my skills in a business/venture. Also, evolve me as an individual. This was when I chose the module New Ventures Designs. Design is something that affects every form of business. As Mr. Andrew Hargadon suggests that design is something that is willingly recognized as a vital part of business. They need to go beyond certain boundaries to establish a relationship between the making of a new product and innovation. (Hargadon, 2005) My professor Corrine Beaumont was an enthusiastic person who generously taught us new things as far as new ventures are concerned. Blogging is one good innovative way to express one’s ideas on an online platform. She showed us a different way to look at things. As of now, if I see a product or a business my mind continuously thinks of different ways in which a business can be run. In the coming years I plan to run a real estate business. The skills that I need for the same are managing finance, human resource, innovative techniques to lure customers and branding etc. Innovation is one thing that several companies strive to improve on. This was one topic that was always related to the other topics that we had learnt in the class. At the end of the year what I have learnt about innovation is that it is a process of combining all the resources together and bringing in a new better design of doing something or making a product.

The picture below can explain it in a better way. (Kelley, 2013)

As time passed by I started to think everything in the most creative way. This is when new ideas and thoughts came up in my mind. The first and the foremost thing that one should think of is to know their tribe in every way possible. This enhances the designing process in a great way. The more you try to know your customers and understand them; the better is it for the success of a venture. The demographics of the tribe can help to recognize all the appropriate approaches and decide what your services will be. (Wilson, 2009) According to me it’s very important for one to shape a business plan after meticulously understanding the needs and wants of the tribe. This is what can ultimately decide the future of the product or a service. Every assignment that we did had to be supported by some form of secondary or primary research. This is how everything can be known about our tribe.

One strange memory I have is when Corrine asked us to think innovatively as to what can really be done with a normal toothbrush that we use. I came up with the idea of having a cylindrical toothbrush which fits to the hand perfectly. The hollow area can be filled with liquid toothpaste which can be released only after a small button is pressed. This could save up on time and money. But yes not every idea is as good as it sounds. I think having such a toothbrush has its own limitations that outweigh the benefits of the same. Till then different innovative techniques can be thought of.

This is the reason why traditional toothbrushes are the best. They are innovative in their own ways:

Simple

Handy

A proper cleansing brush that can eradicate germs

Another great topic that I had learnt during the course was branding. We all know what branding means but its imperative to comprehend how is it created. Brands develop a value after a certain period of time. For e.g. people who buy from high-end brands such as Gucci, Armani may not settle for anything less than that. It is the “good feeling” that customers derive when buying a particular product/service. Branding is a sort of recognition that identifies a particular service or a product. It differentiates it from its rivals. (Green Communications, 2006) I think branding could benefit my goal of owning a successful real estate company. The brand name of my company should be such that customers would know where the best quality work can be fetched.

Meanwhile, everyone had to complete an individual assignment and participate in the first Dragon’s Den competition. I was asked to come up with a new design proposal. Everyone was quite nervous in the class which is why Corrine came up with the idea of making us do some exercises that can help to break the nervousness. There is a picture below that shows all of it. Later, nervously I had presented the idea of having cardboard furniture at home. Go green. The Dragons liked my idea but I did lack to cover up certain areas of the topic. This feedback was very helpful at gauging some of the drawbacks of my idea. With the bright ideas competition I have professionally developed my skills of presenting in front of investors.

*Students learning to break their nervousness.*

Well, everything was a lot easier in the next and the final group Dragon’s Den presentation. My team name was New Virgin Developments that included 3 members. We thought of a pair of biometrics shoe. Technology combined with innovation. Technology and innovation go hand in hand. While conducting this research, a vigorous primary research was undertaken by us. We had made sets of questionnaire for different people and surveyed as many people as we could to support our assumptions. We assigned tasks to every member including me. I was assigned to do the Persona research where in I had to find out the various emotional, physical and cognitive needs of one person. One the other hand, the financial and the marketing part was assigned to the other members of New Virgin Developments.

The Dragon’s thought our idea was unique. But we could not really cover up all the issues related of starting up a business. The whole process of completing this assignment actually gave me an idea of how a business is supposed to be run. For e.g. how is the money managed, the human resource required, land, loans taken, rent etc. It is very important to manage money because proper funding guides a business. No business can survive without proper management of funds in the company. Proper cash flow and managing your accounts accurately is what sets the business on a steady path. (Stephenson, 2014) Probably this is the greatest thing that i have learnt from this module.

The winner of the final Dragon’s Den competition was going to get £3000 as the prize money. Even though our group could not make it to the finals, the most important thing I acknowledged here was that there was stiff competition amongst all of us in the class. Everyone had their own good ideas. But Failure is a part of every business. We learn from it. This assignment really gave us the feel of how a business is run in the day to day life.

Although I have learnt a lot about new ventures, there is one thing that is common amongst us. We all learnt to work in a team. Proper collaboration is the key to success of any form of business. It is this team work that has helped me to complete my assignments and bring in a new dimension to my learning. I came across several people in my class, got to work with them. My perspective towards things changed to a great extent. Working in groups is a big task. But with good collaboration and understanding between the members of the group it is possible to make things trouble-free and uncomplicated.

Ultimately, I would like to conclude that Corrine Beaumont made this module a very interesting one by doing several activities in class. After all it all starts with a dot. This year was surely a fantastic one. Moreover, it was remarkable to learn new things everyday in class and widen our thought processes. This makes us all think not only in a different way but also about the concerns related to the same. If you have an idea, one should look for ways to make that idea work. I would not say that I could grasp everything in the class but yes I have learnt a lot. This will now give me a strong base and whole new outlook of running my own company in the future. Innovation is indeed a boon to a company regardless of the product/service it offers.

`DSR

References

Hargadon, A. (2005). Leading with vision: the design of new ventures. Design Management Review, 16(1), pp.33–39.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/the-reflective-essay/feed/0dsr070ImageImageImageImageFinally the Dragons were coming!https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/finally-the-dragons-were-coming/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/finally-the-dragons-were-coming/#respondThu, 24 Apr 2014 14:50:59 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/finally-the-dragons-were-coming/]]>We were all geared up to present our innovative idea to the dragons with a little nervousness ofcourse. Now in order to make the event more interesting it was announced that £3000 would be given to the winner of the dragon’s den event. We prepared well for the presentation. Every important thing about the pair of shoes had to be conveyed in less than 7 minutes. As far as I’m concerned, I had to introduce the product also talking about the tribe, their needs, wants etc.

The dragons really loved our idea of the biometrics shoe and were quite keen to know more about it. We did get some feedback from them to improvise on our idea. We could not make it to the nominations but in this period we learnt a lot about running a business and several issues related to it in the real world.

Thank you!

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/finally-the-dragons-were-coming/feed/0dsr070ImageMore About the Producthttps://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/more-about-the-product/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/more-about-the-product/#respondThu, 24 Apr 2014 14:37:27 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/?p=91]]>It was a tough time deciding the price of the product since this product is related to technology. When technology is new, they tend to be a bit expensive which is why we had to price the product in the most reasonable manner.

The breakup of our product is as follows:

Production cost 59.15 pounds

Transportation cost (included in the production cost) –

Profit margin (65%) 109.85 pounds

Total cost (per unit) 169 pounds

The price may seem to be expensive but it is worth the cost because the pair of shoes is loaded with several features that can actually be of great use while at work. Every basic detail of the product was explained in the previous blogs.

Our customers are a bit hesitant to pay 169 pounds for our product because it is slightly over priced as they think and our competitors are offering a similar technology at relatively low price that is 140 pounds and in this they only provide a sole which has the same technology that our product has, the only difference is that the bio-metrics technology in our product is customized in a shoe and our competitor provides the biometrics technology in a sole which can be inserted in any shoe of their choice and can be used. As these products are similar but not the same, there is a price variation. The customers are not really willing to pay such an amount for the bio metric shoe before they were given the demonstration about the shoe and its benefits over the competitive product. After analyzing all these points, the customers were slightly comfortable in paying such an amount because they realized that this is a good deal and it is a great value for money.

The message channels through which we would promote our product were magazines, pop-advertisements and newspapers. A product like this does not really need marketing since this is majorly targeted towards large scale companies. We had tested all three message channels while surveying.

Now it was time to research more and discover more about our tribe. It was done through various forms of survey through survey monkey. Getting this done and finding information was not an easy or an undemanding task, it was a complicated process but something that gave actual data to support our piece of research. Also, developing our skills of research and getting more information.

These surveys were filled by individuals related to the corporate sector. All in all we received 25 positive responses for the biometrics shoe. We even asked our friends (the young generation) about the idea just to know what do they think about our product.

While doing the research my team members and I also realized that this process of research has not only developed our skills to learn something more but also taught us about team work and unity. Ultimately this is what matters.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/the-research-period/feed/0dsr070ImageImageBiometrics Shoe Redefines Securityhttps://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/biometrics-shoe-redefines-security/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/biometrics-shoe-redefines-security/#respondThu, 24 Apr 2014 13:26:52 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/biometrics-shoe-redefines-security/]]>In case you are wondering if its possible or not, yes it is possible to combine biometrics technology and a pair shoes. After all everyone is open to innovative ideas. Biometrics refers to the data that is captured related to human physical characteristics and traits. After a lot of brainstorming of ideas is when we came up with this wonderful idea. The main function of the shoe is to record human data and make life easier while at work. Targeted to the commercial sector, this product can mainly be used in areas where high security is needed such as military bases, nuclear powerplants, large scale companies etc.

Biometrics Shoe Sample

In places mentioned above, there are certain restricted domains and areas where only authorized individuals are allowed to enter. This shoe eases life when at work. These shoes can only be worn by one assigned individual. No one else is authorized for the same. These shoes help to track and monitor employee data. For e.g. gain access to certain area, to see if the individual actually visited a particular restricted area. Loaded with several features, these shoes can also make work easy by printing out documents and queuing it to be collected as soon as the shoe is inside a particular radius. This enhances security in a different way. These shoes are quite comfortable to wear and can also be used to track the distance travelled. The healthy way!

The three problems faced by our tribe:

Voice recognition failure to actually identify the individual at times

Burnt/a finger with a slight cut can tamper the biometric system not allowing access

Complex monitoring system such as CCTV.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/biometrics-shoe-redefines-security/feed/0dsr070ImageWhen you choose a whole new wayhttps://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/when-you-choose-a-whole-new-way/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/when-you-choose-a-whole-new-way/#respondThu, 24 Apr 2014 13:08:55 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/?p=48]]>Hello everyone, I know its been long I have not posted something. With the beginning of a new semester, its all about the final group project. My group consisted of 3 colleagues. We had to brainstorm about a new product based on the selected tribe. The tribe is our target market towards which all our financial, marketing and skillful efforts are aimed. It was to see if the product that was thought could actually serve the mankind in some way or the other. The more you try to understand and know your tribe, the better the chances are that the new product will succeed. It’s all about understanding if the tribe actually sees something productive in the product. If it does not, well that is not a problem – create a need for the same.

What Innovation Really Means

With the help of various surveys and observational tactics, the aim of the assignment was to create a persona. The larger umbrella topic of NEEDS was explained to us by Corrine. They are:

– Cognitive Needs: These are the most basic form of needs that needs to be understood in the best possible manner. Its the need to understand what the tribe really needs/wants. Every basic thing that could be identified and comprehended about the persona. A product needs to mentally satisfy the customer.

– Emotional Needs: Anything that the customer feels when using the product. Brand conscious people tend to not settle for something less other than the brands that they always like. It is this emotional need that compels them to buy a particular product. Eg. Love, care , happiness etc

– Physical Needs: This is one need that is essential for an individual to live a better and a healthy life. Eg. health care benefits, reliable.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/when-you-choose-a-whole-new-way/feed/0dsr070ImageImageDragon’s Denhttps://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/dragons-den/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/dragons-den/#respondFri, 13 Dec 2013 05:44:21 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/dragons-den/]]>It was on 5th December 2013 that the Dragon’s Den event was help. All of the NVD students were preparing for their speech which we had to present in front of the experts. To some extent, everyone was nervous. But since we were taught a lot on keeping ourselves calm, it was really easy.

All of us had to come up with one bright, new business idea. My idea was about cardboard furniture. It was about promoting and selling it to customers who want modern-style furniture at an economical price. I presented this idea to the experts after which I was asked a lot of questions for another 5 min. I think I was able to justify myself in all the questions that they had asked.

After this session ended, it was time to officially enter the Bright Ideas competition. I filled a form in which I answered questions on the product, features, alternatives/competitors etc. This form was then later submitted online for the competition. Dragon’s Den is really a nice platform to all the people who have come up with new business ideas and think if it can actually be implemented in real life.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/dragons-den/feed/0dsr070ImagePreparing for Dragon’s Den!https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/preparing-for-dragons-den/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/preparing-for-dragons-den/#respondFri, 13 Dec 2013 05:36:46 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/preparing-for-dragons-den/]]>In this sessions, it was not like the usual classes that were conducted in one room. We were taken to the drama hall where our seniors were going to guide us on Dragon’s Den. Basically, this session was undertaken to give us a clear idea on what it was all about.

With 4 different groups made in the class, each group assigned with one colour, every group had one senior drama student. I was in the green group. The first session was about lightening up ourselves before giving a presentation. I learnt different ways of keeping my self relaxed before a presentation. The second drama student taught us about being positive and confident enough to present ourselves. She taught us a lot on body language. We were asked to sleep down on the floor!

The next session with the other drama student was quite humorous. I learnt about improvising on my verbal skills. For e.g. we were asked to speak up loudly different alphabets and twist our toungues in different ways. The last session was about improving on the story telling skills. One of my class mates had given a start up story line which other students like me had to continue. Later, it was with with partners where we had to come up with a short story in front of everyone and clap when the story said was right.

I guess this was one of my best classes so far. I got to learn a lot. Now, I hope the dragon’s den event goes really good where I can actually apply whatever I have learned in this class.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/preparing-for-dragons-den/feed/0dsr070ImageBusiness Idea? Have one? Implement one.https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/business-idea-have-one-implement-one/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/business-idea-have-one-implement-one/#respondFri, 13 Dec 2013 05:21:01 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/business-idea-have-one-implement-one/]]>In this lecture we were asked to think of a new business idea. It was about bringing up a new business idea that could actually be implemented in real life. A lot of brainstorming was done. We were 4 of us in one group who had to think of something not only new but some idea that was practically possible. We came up with the idea of opening a store that sells cardboard furniture. Due to its durability and eco-friendliness it could be the future.

Later, we had to fill a form for the Bright Ideas competition. This definitely gave me a nice platform to put forth my ideas in front of the experts. During the lecture, I also learnt a lot about marketing. One of which was about “word of mouth”. According to me, a brand which is able to fit itself in such marketing is something really fruitful. Its very helpful to the brand as a whole when people convey their brand to other people. This earns them a lot of goodwill and good reputation. This could be termed as the best way of marketing.

]]>https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/business-idea-have-one-implement-one/feed/0dsr070ImageImageIts all about a BRAND.https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/its-all-about-a-brand/
https://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/its-all-about-a-brand/#respondFri, 13 Dec 2013 05:10:35 +0000http://darshan07.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/its-all-about-a-brand/]]>This lecture was held on 21st Nov 2013 where we had covered a very imperative topic which was on branding. As usual, the class was a creativity lesson. The professor asked us to draw buildings, roads, trees with just a dot in the paper. This means that everything starts with one dot.

Branding could be referred to as something which proves a point where it gives a “good feeling” to the buyers of particular products. For e.g. one who buys LV belts knows that it is something luxurious and thus people get attached to several brands. The creation of a logo is also another process of branding. It is all about the reputation one brand earns from its products. With the help of branding, companies can attract customers towards them and also keep their previous customers totally attached to them. Thereby, branding involves a lot of consistency, visibility and originality.